Sweden bids to send tourists into space

It has been 43 years since Neil Armstrong and his crew set foot on the moon. Their tracks in the dust are still visible even today. Now Virgin Galactic is planning to send ordinary men and women to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere from New Mexico from 2013. But there are rumours that the company is also looking to expand into Europe – and Sweden has already established its own spaceport in expectation it will be chosen.“There are a few places in the world trying to establish this but none has come as far as we have,” says Karin Nilsdotter, chief executive officer of Spaceport Sweden. “We also want to build on our existing infrastructure and tourism and business we have here.”Stephen Attenborough, commercial director of Virgin Galactic, said in response: “Spaceport Sweden is potentially a great place to fly from. They’ve got the ice hotel, it’s a great destination and you‘d get a great view – different from New Mexico.”BBC[pictured: Spaceport America; courtesy Virgin Galactic]